Saif Ali Khan reacts on nationwide CAA protests
Mumbai: Reacting to the ongoing nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), actor Saif Ali Khan said as a citizen he is concerned about the current situation in the country. The 49-year-old star is one of the few big names from Bollywood to react on the unrest due to the protests against the legislation.
"There are many things that give us a cause for concern, watching and wondering how where it will all end up," Saif said on the political scenario in the country.
Several Bollywood celebrities such as Farhan Akhtar, Parineeti Chopra, Richa Chadha, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Anurag Kashyap, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan and Swara Bhasker among others have voiced their disappointment over the amended Citizenship Act.
The silence of the A-listers from the film industry is being questioned on social media but the "Sacred Games" star said everybody has a right to express their opinion or not.
"It is everybody's right to protest peacefully and everybody's right not to," the actor told PTI in an interview. Saif said he trying to understand the situation better and will make up his mind after he is well-informed.
"I would like the protest to be associated with exactly what I am protesting against. There might be a possibility that I will end up representing a different kind of protest. So I am not sure yet. Until I am sure what I am protesting against and whether it is going to be taken that way, I need to think more.
"There is so much being written in the press, there are so many things that give us concern about what we are reading." In many ways, India has to define herself, the actor said.
"She will be defined by either the judiciary or the government or ultimately the people and we will know in what kind of environment we are living in. But it is still a little... That is dwelling on what I am reading and what I am told."
Protests broke out across the country after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was cleared by Parliament and signed by President Ram Nath Kovind into an Act.
According to the Act, people from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come to India till December 31, 2014, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution there will be given Indian citizenship. The protesters claim that the legislation was "unconstitutional and divisive" as it excludes Muslims.
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Women's reservation must be implemented without being made contingent on delimitation: CM
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the Women's Reservation Bill is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation.
Terming the delimitation as the political re-engineering at the cost of southern states, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that these states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism.
The leaders' statements came a day before the Constitutional Amendment Bill with provisions on women's reservation implementation and delimitation was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"You are right in highlighting the larger implications of the proposed delimitation approach and the concerns it raises for southern states. We wholeheartedly support the Women's Reservation Bill - it is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
He was replying to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy's post on 'X' with a letter, urging the former to unitedly resist moves to push a pro rata model to increase Lok Sabha seats, which would be highly detrimental and inimical to the interests of southern states.
"Any exercise that reshapes political representation must be undertaken with utmost care. The Union Government must engage all states in a transparent and consultative process, and ensure that fairness, federal balance, and consensus guide this critical decision," Siddaramaiah added.
Shivakumar said that this is not a delimitation, but political re-engineering "at the cost of southern states".
"The proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 will systematically reduce the voice of the South, while rewarding unchecked population growth elsewhere. This is nothing but punishing progress and good governance," he posted on 'X'.
Clarifying that Congress fully supports women's reservation and in fact, it was party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's vision and commitment that brought this dream to the national agenda, the Deputy CM said, "We demand that it be implemented without linking it to delimitation or seat expansion."
"I urge the Union Govt to not hide behind women's empowerment to push a deely unfair political agenda. Rushing such a massive restructuring of India's democracy during elections, without transparency or consultation, is deeply suspicious and unacceptable," he said.
Asserting that India's strength lies in balance not domination, and in fairness, not manipulation, Shivakumar said, "The Southern states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism."
"We will not allow the South to be politically marginalised."
